US Open 2019: Caroline Wozniacki secures comeback win against Danielle Collins

Caroline Wozniacki found another challenge at the US Open on Thursday night and but was able to secure a comeback win over Danielle Collins. A three-setter against Danielle Collins nearly went to the brink, but the former World No.1 came out victorious 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Arthur Ashe Stadium at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center.

The two faced twice in recent years with both getting wins on clay. Wozniacki managed to show her strengths at the French Open in 2018 but failed to step it up during their second match where the Dane bowed out after a tight first set.

With things much different on the hard courts in New York that Wozniacki is used to, she would have to prepare for any sudden movements that Collins came up with.

Wozniacki opened with a serve to love that beat Collins on her game result. When the 19th seed put down another one, the American responded with a shutout in the fourth and then broke her to love for a 3-2 lead.

The sixth was a much more contested outcome that saw Collins defend and win it on the first break of deuce played. With the notion of how her opponent was playing, she continued to hold but the break was making the difference and increasing control for the 25-year-old.

When the Dane put down a third service to love, she hoped to counteract the American and extend the set. Collins focused on the forehand side of the Dane and while the ninth went to deuce, she created enough set point chances that the capture of the opening set came on her fourth attempt ending 39 minutes.

Despite having a service percentage under 60 percent, she won nearly three-quarters of points from it and scored 14 winners that did a number on Wozniacki.

Knowing how to change the pace, the Dane focused on the weak side of Collins to hold serve and capture a break on deuce in the second. Scoring a serve to love made it 3-0 for the 19th seed but her opponent wasn’t giving in when she had the serve in the fourth.

She battled Wozniacki to deuce but was unable to close it on the first AD point and instead watched her take a double break. The former World No.1 made it 5-0 coming back from a short deficit to force deuce.

After shutting down a breakpoint for Collins she looked to get it done against the American but was denied. Collins went on to win the seventh breaking the 29-year-old in what she hoped was a full comeback.

A third began to concern Wozniacki but a key hold in the ninth allowed her to get out of trouble and force the decider after 45 minutes. The Dane had a stronger service game that was the deciding factor to fending off Collins’ 12 winners but drew 13 errors out of her.

The third set began with even play between the two as they held serve through six games. It wasn’t until the seventh when Wozniacki created three break points but couldn’t deal with a lob situation that led Collins to win a point.

A returned error clinched the lead for the Dane who served the eighth with a chance to jump away. A hold for the 29-year-old sent Collins over the edge on missed shots that saw her smash the racket twice.

After receiving a code violation she tried to serve to extend the set while Wozniacki sought the match. The American scored two crosscourt shots but became irritated with her errors that gave Wozniacki match point.

She suddenly put an ace down the T of the court to force deuce and another to gain a breakpoint. She erred to put them back to deuce where after two breaks an error from the 19th seed made it 5-4.

Test passed!Two-time #USOpen finalist @CaroWozniacki closes out her R2 match with Danielle Collins, defeating the 🇺🇸 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. pic.twitter.com/CQ7eVEmc3p

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 30, 2019

When it looked like Collins would level things up, Wozniacki refused to let that happen and drew three straight errors from the American to reach triple match point. It was all said and done when a final error ended two hours and nine minutes moving the Dane into the third round.

“She started off really aggressively,” Wozniacki said to ESPN’s Renee Stubbs. “I couldn’t find my rhythm, it’s tough to find it when someone plays like her because there’s not a lot of long rallies but I just stayed determined and try to take the ball a little bit earlier in the last two sets.”

With another tough match out of the way, she’ll get another one taking on Canadian rising star Bianca Andreescu on Saturday.